Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputies Maloney and Nolan.

I am proud to be a member of the Labour Party and of the sacrifices the party has been made in the history of the State by facilitating democracy and the birth of the nation. In 1918, the party stepped aside to allow a new nation to be born in Europe. I am about change and I do not put protest before people. I am very much about putting people first and not constantly moving from one protest to another and achieving little.

When this Government came to power, many people said what we set out to do could not be done. People openly spoke of how we would need a second bailout and laughed at the notion of 100,000 jobs being created. It has been a tough three years but major achievements have been secured: we have left the bailout, the troika has gone home, 60,000 jobs have been created over the past 18 months, and the live register has dropped below 400,000 but we need to do more. The action plan on jobs - often mocked - has worked each year, delivering slow and steady progress on a range of targets. This is paying dividends as the employment figures show but there is no big bang solution to unemployment. It is a step by step process as we claw back jobs into Ireland. We have stabilised the national debt and from next year it will begin to decrease as a percentage of GDP. The interest rate on our debt has fallen and the promissory notes are gone. We sorted out the Banks and are now in a position to make a profit on Bank of Ireland. The Government wound up Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide Building Society, which has cost our citizens dearly but we inherited a dysfunctional economy.

It is important that we mark three years in government because when the parties came to power, Ireland was face down in the ditch. Now we are back on our knees and in the next two years we will be back on our feet. I am dissatisfied with the structure of this debate, which has taken place over three days this week and which will continue next week. While it should have been opened by the Taoiseach, it should have been focused on Departments with Ministers and Ministers of State outlining what has happened in their Departments and what will happen, with responses from Opposition spokespeople and interested backbenchers. We should have had an opportunity to debate new ideas and policies rather than engage in navel gazing and sniping.

My priorities over the next two years are twofold: the creation of jobs and tackling the housing crisis in the same manner as we have stabilised the economy. These have to be our two priorities. Deputy Micheál Martin and Fianna Fáil left many problems behind for us. One of the worst relates to housing. The housing crisis was caused by that party, which failed to invest in social housing during the boom and permitted developers do as they pleased. The only criterion was that they had to show up in the tent. The speculative building boom, financed by reckless lending led to the wholesale collapse our economy while little or no activity in construction over the past six years has led to the current housing crisis. We need a sustainable construction industry. We need to examine new models to deliver private housing and social housing by working with builders and voluntary housing bodies. New investment in social housing was announced in the budget but an allocation of €100 million, while welcome, is but a drop in the ocean in the context of the crisis. The strategic investment fund and NAMA have a critical role to play in providing the finance needed to get building started. We need a fresh start for social housing and Part V has an important role to play in developing mixed communities.

I would not like a reduction in the use of Part V for social housing because it is important to have a mix of housing in our communities and to learn the lessons of the past. Fianna Fáil-led Governments built vast social housing estates in the suburbs or large flat complexes and we are dealing with the fallout now as social deprivation takes holds because there was little investment. I recently surveyed a flats complex in my constituency and the unemployment rate is 80%. Eight householders out of every ten is unemployed. They did not share in the boom because even during that period, the unemployment rate was 54%. As we get back on our feet, we must target how we spend scarce resources to make sure we build an inclusive society in order that when jobs are created and houses are provided, we can build sustainable communities. That did not happen in the past. People were pushed out of Dublin city to Clondalkin where there were no bus services, schools or community centres. It was as big a disaster as the financial crisis. In the 1980s I lived in Clondalkin. We celebrated when a new pub opened because there were no schools, churches or community centres. People were pushed out there first, mainly young families with young children, and they had to travel large distances to schools.

We have to concentrate on job creation over the next few months but we must also develop a mechanism to build much needed housing throughout the country. There is pent up demand in the Dublin region, according to the ESRI, of 80,000 units. If we began to build those units tomorrow, they would not be ready for two years following planning, building and delivery. We need to get a move on. We have come a long way in the context of the economy and job creation but we are still far behind in respect of social housing.

See this speech in context